49 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



We must not dismiss the moon without a few words as to its 

 probable condition. It was but natural, after men had seen tbe sur- 

 face of the moon diversified with hills and valleys like another earth, 

 that the opinion should find ready acceptance that beings not unlike 

 ourselves might dwell upon it. Nothing could possibly have been 

 more interesting than the realization of such a fancy by the actual 

 discovery of the lunar inhabitants, or at least of unmistakable evidence 

 of their existence. The moon is so near to the earth, as astronomical 

 distances go, and the earth and the moon are so intimately connected 

 in the companionship of their yearly journey around the sun, and their 

 greater journey together with the sun and all his family, through the 

 realms of space, that we should have looked upon the lunar inhabit- 

 ants, if any had existed, as our neighbors over the way, dwelling, to 

 be sure, upon a somewhat more restricted domain than ours, vassals of 

 the earth in one sense, yet upon the whole very respectable and inter- 

 esting people, with whom one would be glad to have a closer acquaint- 

 ance. But, alas ! as the powers of the telescope increased, the vision 

 of a moon crowded with life faded, until at last the cold fact struck 

 home that the moon is, in all probability, a frozen and dried-up globe, 

 a mere planetary skeleton, which could no more support life than the 

 Humboldt glacier could grow roses. And yet this opinion may go too 

 far. There is reason for thinking that the moon is not absolutely air- 

 less, and, while it has no visible bodies of water, its soil may, after all, 

 not be entirely arid and desiccated. There are observations which hint 

 at visible changes in certain spots that could possibly be caused by 

 vegetation, and there are other observations which suggest the display 

 of electric luminosity in a rarefied atmosphere covering the moon. To 

 declare that no possible form of life can exist under the conditions 

 prevailing upon the lunar surface would be saying too much, for 

 human intelligence can not set bounds to creative power. Yet, within 

 the limits of life, such as we know them, it is probably safe to assert 

 that the moon is a dead and deserted world. In other words, if a race 

 of beings resembling ourselves, or resembling any of our contempo- 

 raries in terrestrial life, ever existed upon the moon, they must long 

 since have perished. That such beings may have existed is possible, 

 particularly if it is true, as generally believed, that the moon once had 

 a comparatively dense atmosphere and water upon its surface, which 

 have now, in the process of cooling of the lunar globe, been withdrawn 

 into its interior. It certainly does not detract from the interest with 

 which we study the rugged and beautiful scenery of the moon to re- 

 flect that if we could visit those ancient sea-bottoms, or explore those 

 glittering mountains, we might, perchance, find there some remains or 

 mementoes of a race that flourished, and perhaps was all gathered 

 again to its fathers, before man appeared upon the earth. 



That slight physical changes, such as the downfall of mountain- 

 walls or crater-cones, still occasionally occur upon the moon, is an opin- 



